


Projects and Playdates

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [39]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Accidents, Age Play, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Non-Sexual Age Play, Playdates, Team as Family, Wetting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:25:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8373838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: Palmer hasn't let Jimmy play when he needs it, and so the boy makes an appearance in the worst of ways when Gibbs gets mad.





	

Palmer couldn't settle the upset feeling in his stomach. He had been feeling on edge lately for reasons that he was having trouble explaining. Every loud noise or unexpected touch had him nearly jumping out of his skin, and it was getting hard to chalk it up to simple nervousness. The stress he was under had him feeling little more and more often, but he hadn't been going to Doctor Mallard to calm down. He had been getting little at least twice every day for the past week, and he didn't want to come off as too clingy or needy. He had handled everything just fine on his own before, and there was no reason that he couldn't now.

He and Doctor Mallard were in the middle of autopsying a body when the gentle _whoosh_  of the autopsy doors opening sounded and Tony ran in. "Gibbs is on the warpath, you'd better have something about Petty Officer Daniels!" he warned, rushing out again to the stairs.

"Ah. I was wondering why I hadn't heard from Jethro today. He must be working himself to the bone," Doctor Mallard mused.

Palmer was shaking. Gibbs intimidated him on a normal day. On the days when he was mad Palmer tried to leave the room quietly if he could in order to avoid confrontation. But there was no way he could get away quietly in the middle of an autopsy. And they hadn't gotten the chance to work on Daniels yet!

Jimmy was suddenly feeling very, very little and even more scared.

There was the elevator's _ding_  and then the _whoosh_  of the doors, and Jimmy was convinced that would be the last thing he ever heard. He turned his head toward the door, and his breath caught in his throat. Because there, in all his fury, Jimmy could have sworn Joe was standing in autopsy, glaring at him. "Tell me you've finished with Daniels, Duck," he growled.

Jimmy looked over at Da, hoping that somehow, they could get out of this mess. But Da just sighed. "Unfortunately we have a backlog of bodies today and I have not been able to start the autopsy of Daniels."

Slowly, Jimmy took a few steps back to see if he would be noticed. Joe-though it couldn't be Joe, he thought Joe was in prison-snapped his gaze over to Jimmy. "What do you think _you're_  doing?!" he snapped.

It took Jimmy's brain a few seconds to understand the question, and unfortunately he couldn't get his mouth to work quite right. "W-w-w-we-ell I-I-I w-w-was j-jus-st..."

"Really, Jethro, don't antagonize Mister Palmer. I will get to Daniels as soon as we are done with this body. Until then, you'll just have to wait."

"That's not _good enough_!" Not-Joe roared.

Jimmy squeaked and ducked behind the autopsy table, breathing hard but trying to muffle it. He had to stay quiet if he didn't want to get hurt, though he was never good at staying quiet like he should. Worse than being loud, though, his crotch area felt warm. He couldn't help it, even though Joe and Rebecca never saw it that way. When he got scared, he wet. He curled in on himself and stayed as quiet as he could. If he didn't cry out, he might be able to pretend that Da had decided he didn't want him anymore, and was gonna give him back to Joe. He could hear quiet words being exchanged in harsh tones, and he winced. Those words were undoubtedly about what his punishment was going to be.

Two sets of footsteps came closer, and Da and Not-Joe were suddenly in front of him. Da was visibly angry, and Not-Joe looked...sorry? "Aw, Duck. I didn't mean to scare him that badly."

Da tutted and glared at Not-Joe. "That may be, Jethro, but you still couldn't control you temper and _did_  scare him this badly. Furthermore, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

Not-Joe reached a hand out and Jimmy flinched away. He knew that Wasn't Allowed, but he was too scared and too worried about seeing the light of day to worry much about flinching. "No touch," he said, pressing his back into the side of the examination table.

Da looked at him, worried. "Jimmy, my boy, I think you would be far more comfortable in fresh clothes, would you not? Allow me to change you in the locker room, away from prying eyes?"

Jimmy hesitated. Was this a ploy to get him quiet, so that he would leave with Not-Joe? The way Da looked at Not-Joe, so fiercely and with such anger, made Jimmy think that wasn't the case. He still didn't know what _was_  going on, though any situation was better when he was dry. He nodded.

Da helped him off the floor and led him to the back room where the lockers were. "I am glad I recommended you keep a spare set of clothes here," Da said. "This will make everything much easier. Lie down."

Jimmy laid down on the floor and smiled when Da brought out his keys and gave them a shake. "Here we are, lad. I won't be but a moment."

Da changed him and helped Jimmy into his spare set of jeans before helping him sit up. "Sorry 'bout bein' little now, Da," Jimmy said quietly, chewing his keys.

"Don't apologize for that, Jimmy," Da said, patting his leg. "You could never make me mad by needing to be little. And don't think I haven't noticed you holding back when you think you need some time with me."

Jimmy looked down. "I jus' don' wanna be too much trouble."

Da tutted. "There is no such thing in my house. Now, I think that Jethro owes you an apology. Is it all right to go back out into autopsy?"

Jimmy shook his head. He didn't want to go back out and see Not-Joe again.

Da frowned. "Why not?"

Jimmy bit down hard on his keys for some form of courage, before saying quietly, "Don' wanna see Joe."

"Joe?" Da asked. "Your foster father?"

Jimmy nodded, pointing. "Out there. You talk-ed to him."

Da raised his eyebrows. "Oh," he said. "My dear boy, that man isn't your foster father. I know he might bear a resemblance, especially when his temper is short, but I can assure you that Jethro would never willingly harm you in any way, and that includes standing by while someone else does so."

Jimmy whimpered and started chewing his keys again. He shook his head. Much as he wanted to believe Da, it just seemed too unlikely that was the case.

Da sighed. "Sooner or later we will have to leave, Jimmy. I can tell Jethro to give you space, but if he doesn't want to, it is unlikely he will listen to even the director telling him to go away."

"Go home?" Jimmy asked. "He can't get in home if you don' let him...right?"

"To go home we will have to go through autopsy, dear boy," Da explained.

Jimmy frowned. Was there really no way of not seeing Not-Joe again?

There was a knock at the door of the locker room and Not-Joe poked his head in. "Anything I can do, Duck?"

"Besides apologize and show some patience while you wait for the autopsy results? No, nothing comes to mind," Da quipped.

Jimmy scooted closer to Da and whimpered. He didn't want anything to do with Not-Joe. But Not-Joe wasn't going away. "What did I do wrong aside from losing my temper? I've done it before and it's never made him this squirrelly."

"As it turns out," Da said, standing. "When you throw a fit if things don't go your way, you bear a striking resemblance to young Jimmy's foster father. And I am certain that the memories you bring up are not pleasant."

Not-Joe was about to say something else, when someone hollered, "Hey, boss!"

"We can talk about this later?" Not-Joe offered.

Da frowned. "I do not think that is wise, Jethro. We should speak about this now, in order to remember the severity of the issue."

Not-Joe rolled his eyes and turned to whoever was standing behind him outside the locker room. "Now's not a good time, DiNozzo."

Jimmy perked up. "Tony?" he asked.

Da looked down at him. "Yes, I believe that is Anthony on the other side of the door."

Jimmy stood and walked over, being careful to not look at Not-Joe for too long, and opened the door to the locker room all the way. "Tony!" he exclaimed when he saw his friend on the other side of the door.

"Hey," he said to Jimmy. He turned to Not-Joe. "Apparently I missed something, boss. Why is Jimmy here instead of the autopsy gremlin?"

"That would be because Jethro cannot control his temper," Da said. "We were just about to speak about it."

"Oh. Well, um, I kind of need the boss really quick, because we have a witness to the murder, who might be able to crack the case wide open for us. Not to say that whatever happened here isn't a big deal, but, uh, this case is sort of draining and I want it done as soon as physically possible so I can just pass out for 12 hours straight at the end. I haven't slept well in a week because we're always being called out for this stupid case because our suspect keeps on adding more and more crimes to his already impressive rap sheet."

Not-Joe turned around. "Just when was the last time you bothered to slow down for a second, DiNozzo?"

"Beginning of the case when I hit a red light on the way back here," he joked. "Uh, in all seriousness, I have absolutely no idea. Everything's sort of running together, I'm on my 5th cup of coffee today, and I am dangerously close to finding out what colors taste like."

Not-Joe turned back to Da. "Any chance we could have this conversation at one of our houses and give the kids a chance to breathe?"

"My house sounds fine," Da said. "You would have to drive yourself over, however."

Not-Joe shrugged. "It's time for a lunch break anyway. 3 days' worth of them. DiNozzo, tell Kate to deal with the witness, and after that she and McGee can go home early. I owe all of you 3 lunch breaks, and by the time they're over it will be 5 o'clock."

"Wow, since when do we leave on time?" Tony laughed. "I'll tell 'em. They're not coming with you?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope, but you are."

Tony frowned. "Wait, what for? I didn't do anything wrong?"

"It's not a punishment, it's a reminder to take care of yourself every once in a while," Not-Joe said. "Now, go! Get ready!"

Tony grinned and dashed off, and Jimmy watched him go. Not-Joe hadn't acknowledged him in a while, and he was relieved, though still a little nervous that Not-Joe was angry. Da walked up behind him and lightly tapped the upper half of his arm. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. He was carrying a diaper bag, Jimmy realized, and he wondered when Da had the time to pack it.

Jimmy nodded, and Da smiled. "We will see you over at my place, then, Jethro."

Da lead Jimmy to the elevator and Jimmy just played with his keys the whole way there. "Jimmy?" Da prompted.

Jimmy looked up. "Yeah?" he asked.

"You _are_ okay with Jethro and Anthony coming over tonight?"

Jimmy nodded. "I like playin' with Tony."

"And Jethro?"

Jimmy shrugged. "If he doesn' hurt me or scare me then he's okay."

"Those should not be your standards for acquaintances," Da sighed. "But they are better than Timmy's, or Tony's for that matter, so I suppose I should be thankful."

Jimmy chewed on his keys until they were at Da's car, when he climbed in the back and chose instead to watch everything fly by out the window. He found this especially interesting when they got to go super fast and the buildings around him grew blurry without him taking off his glasses. When they pulled into Da's driveway, he was almost sad the ride was over, until he remembered that he got to play with Tony now.

When Da opened the door, Jimmy clambered out, just in time to see another car pull up into the driveway. Not-Joe was in the driver's seat, and Jimmy finally recognized him as Uncle Gibbs. "Oh...that's Uncle Gibbs!" Jimmy said, turning to Da.

"Yes it is," Da said. "And you know who that means is with him?"

The back door of Uncle Gibbs' car opened, and Tony walked out, grinning sheepishly. "Tony!" Jimmy squealed in joy, dashing over and hugging the other boy.

"Hey, Jimmy!" Tony said, returning the hug. "It's been too long!" he said in his mock-serious "adult" voice.

Jimmy laughed and nodded. "It has!" he replied in his own mock-serious tone. "How are the kids?"

They looked at each other, daring the other to laugh first. Tony lost, snorting before dissolving into fits of giggles. "You have a really good adult impression!"

"You do too!" Jimmy said. "Wanna go inside? It's kinda cold."

"Not too bad," Tony replied.

"You have a coat, though!" Jimmy protested.

"Yeah, okay. You win. Let's go inside."

Jimmy grinned and started walking up the driveway, talking with Tony. "So wha' d'you wanna do when we get inside?"

Tony shrugged, chewing on a fingernail. "I like playing with the blocks. And there's always fun stuff to color. I mean, if Papa lets me suck my thumb I'm fine with doing whatever."

Jimmy held up his keys. "I kinda feel that way, 'cept it's with my keys. I gotta have them nearby."

Tony nodded. "I keep a blanket in my desk at work," he whispered to Jimmy. "But you can't tell the others."

"I won't," Jimmy said, stopping outside the door while Da unlocked it. Once they were inside, Jimmy looked around and frowned. "I dunno what to do."

Tony shrugged. "It's been a while since I haven't had Katie or Timmy around to play with, and usually they come up with super fun games. Um..."

Da walked in with Uncle Gibbs, shutting the door. "If you don't know what to do yet, might I suggest having something small to eat? I noticed that you only ate half of your lunch today, Jimmy."

Jimmy shrugged. "Okay."

All 4 of them went into the kitchen and Jimmy and Tony sat at the counter in the middle. Tony by this point had stuck his thumb in his mouth after realizing he wasn't expected to talk any longer, and Jimmy was twirling his keys on their ring for lack of anything better to do. Da was rummaging for something in the pantry, and Uncle Gibbs just leaned against a wall, watching. Jimmy found that kind of creepy. Sure, Uncle Gibbs could be really nice and comforting, but something kept him on edge whenever the man was around.

Tony shifted in his seat, catching Jimmy's attention. Once Tony had it, he bugged his eyes out and pulled on one side of his mouth until you could practically see his molars. Jimmy laughed at the funny face and puffed out his cheeks before crossing his eyes as a counter face. Tony giggled.

The boys made faces at each other until Da put Goldfish on paper plates in front of both of them. Jimmy took a handful of the crackers and started eating. Tony forewent taking handfuls and made a funnel out of the paper plate, pouring the entire snack in his mouth in one go. "Tony," Uncle Gibbs warned.

Tony smiled innocently and chewed the crackers with his cheeks puffed out. Jimmy took another handful and watched as the boy across from him swallowed with some difficulty and gasped for air when he was done. "That's gotta beat Timmy's record," he said smugly.

Jimmy grinned and finished off the last of his crackers. "If you need someone to back you up, I'll help you."

Tony smiled and looked around. "So..."

Jimmy frowned. "Um...so?"

The two adults in the room were exchanging glances. Da stepped forward. "Jimmy, would you like to show Tony your room? I'm sure he could give you some ideas on how to decorate it."

"Oh, yeah!" Jimmy said. "Yeah, lemme show you my room!"

He hopped off the chair he was sitting on and dragged Tony up to his room. He sat down on the bed and looked around. So far he just had the bed, and a dresser with some spare clothes and diapers in it. "It's kinda empty," Tony said.

Jimmy shrugged. "Maybe, but 's my own room, and nobody can take it away from me! I'm gonna put all sortsa stuff in here! Like, I have pictures of all sortsa animals and what kindsa insides they have, and I wanna hang those up on the walls! And then, maybe, I could find some of the toys they had at the orphanage I was in between foster homes that were really fun, and then I'd have the best parts of being a kid, and with Da here, it would be just like I was raised in a normal family!"

Tony smiled. "What _is_  normal, anyway?" he asked.

Jimmy shrugged and shifted forward on his bed when he felt a _squish_. Uh-oh.

Tony looked over at him. "Jimmy? What's wrong?"

"I..." Jimmy stopped talking. He couldn't admit he had wet himself to Tony. His eyes glazed over and he looked away, red in the face.

"Oooh," Tony said, pulling Jimmy in for a hug. "No, it's okay! That's what diapers are for!"

Jimmy winced but accepted the hug. Though how was he supposed to tell anyone? This was so embarrassing, he didn't think he could do it...

Uncle Gibbs took a few steps into the room, and Jimmy whimpered. He _knew_  Uncle Gibbs wouldn't hurt him, Da said so. But he still looked too much like Joe. And Joe always punished him when he wet himself. "Everything okay, you two?" he asked.

Tony looked over at Uncle Gibbs. "Jimmy needs Uncle Ducky, Papa."

"What's wrong? Did he get hurt?" Uncle Gibbs asked.

"...Not exactly," Tony said awkwardly. "He needs a, uh...y'know?"

"Oh," Uncle Gibbs said. "I'll bring Duck up. You make sure he doesn't do anything stupid for 30 seconds, okay? Maybe make faces again, or something."

He left, and Tony looked around. "Wait a sec. Where're your keys?" He patted the mattress around him. "Oh! Here they are!" he exclaimed, shaking them in front of Jimmy's face.

Jimmy focused on the keys, sniffling. Tony, encouraged by the lessening of tears, gave the keys another hearty shake. Jimmy giggled softly as the keys made a loop around the ring. Da walked into the room, Uncle Gibbs trailing behind. "Honestly, Jethro, it's like you're trying to scare Jimmy every second of the day. What did you do now to make him start crying?" he asked.

"I didn't do anything!" Uncle Gibbs responded sharply. "He needs a change, Duck. I just checked to make sure these two hadn't killed each other yet."

Da sighed and shook his head. "I apologize, Jethro, I should not have leapt to conclusions." Jimmy felt a silent _Do you really blame me though?_  in the air as Da came over. "Lie down, lad. Anthony, Jethro, will you please give us a minute?"

Tony and Uncle Gibbs left the room and Da changed Jimmy quickly. "Jimmy, I would like to speak with you for a moment before you play with young Anthony," he said.

Jimmy sat up and frowned. "Is somethin' wrong?"

"I don't think so," Da said. "But if for any reason you feel uncomfortable, at any time, I want you to know you can tell me and I'll do whatever is in my power to remedy the situation. No matter how many times you need it, for whatever may arise. You are more important than whatever situation we might be in. Understand?"

Jimmy nodded.

"I would hate to do this, dear boy, but if you hold back for any reason, I may have to resort to some form of punishment. This is a side of you that needs to be taken care of properly, and I will facilitate that in any way that I can, for as long as you allow me to. This can develop into a serious issue otherwise."

"I understand," Jimmy said, swinging his legs to the floor. "Can I play with Tony now?"

Da smiled. "Of course you can, dear boy. Just remember, if you need me for anything, I'll be right there."

Jimmy nodded and rushed out of the bedroom, nearly running headlong into Tony. "Da says I can play now, he jus' wanted to talk to me for a sec. Wha' d'you wanna do now?"

Tony looked at the floor. "You'll think it's stupid..."

Jimmy shook his head. "It can't be that bad! What?"

"I was looking through a coloring book I saw on a shelf, and I kinda wanted to do that for a while."

"That's fine!" Jimmy said. "I never know what I wanna do, I jus' sorta play with whatever's out unless someone else wants to play somethin' spe...specific. Da doesn' know what to do either, though, sometimes, so we jus' kinda sit there if Abby's not around. It's nice."

Tony smiled. "Me and Papa would do that, too. We'd sit on the couch and watch whatever was on TV and...forget for a while. Sometimes I miss it, but it's also really fun to have a brother and sister to play with."

Jimmy nodded wistfully. "I don' really want much. I jus' wanna be able to hug someone or play with my keys when things get confusing or scary."

Tony smiled. "That's always the best part of being little! D'you have crayons?"

Jimmy nodded. "In Da's office. I'll show you where they are!"

The two made their way downstairs and Jimmy quickly got hold of the crayons and a few coloring books. "What do you want to color?" Jimmy asked.

Tony frowned and pointed to the coloring book with a dog on the front. "Animals!"

Jimmy smiled and picked out one with planets on it. "I'll color outer space then!"

Tony went into the living room and got set up on the floor, Jimmy doing the same, opening the box of crayons and choosing a light blue as he flipped to an empty page with a comet on it. Da and Uncle Gibbs walked into the room and sat down on the open sofa. Tony was totally engrossed in his coloring, but Jimmy listened in a little on their conversation. "--You would think his needs are simple, Jethro, but he's asking me to be a rock I'm not sure I am capable of being," Da said.

Uncle Gibbs shrugged. "The young ones are always tougher, in their own way. Getting them content can be easier in certain ways, but they need near-constant attention to keep them that way. Still, if all he needs is reassurance, I'm sure you can give him that."

"I know you think so, Jethro, but the sheer amount of abuse the boy has experienced, what if I do the wrong thing and he becomes afraid of me? Then no one would be there to comfort him!"

Jimmy looked up at Da and showed him what he had done of the picture so far, coloring the tail of the comet. "D'you like it, Da?"

"It's beautiful, dear boy," Da said, smiling and leaning down to push some of Jimmy's hair out of his face. "Truly excellent work."

Jimmy smiled and went back to work.

"Just like that, Duck. That's all he really needs half the time, and the other half is usually having someone to play _with_  him," Uncle Gibbs said.

Tony poked Jimmy with a crayon. Jimmy looked up, frowning. Tony held up a hand to block his mouth from Uncle Gibbs' view and whispered. "If you get bored, lemme know and we could make a break for it."

Jimmy laughed and shook his head. "I'm 'kay. You?"

Tony nodded. "An' if somethin' happens again just tell me an' I'll try to help however I can."

Jimmy grinned. Uncle Gibbs smiled. "I'm glad we're all okay now. And I'm proud of you for helping Jimmy, Tony."

Tony beamed. Jimmy smiled back at him and the two colored a while longer, letting the adults talk, until Jimmy started to get sleepy. He leaned over to where Da's legs were and crawled up onto Da's lap, effectively taking the wind out of him. Uncle Gibbs laughed. "Looks like someone wants to cuddle," he teased.

Jimmy curled into a ball on Da's lap as Da wrapped his arms around the boy. Da rubbed Jimmy's arm lightly to get his attention. "Are you tired?" he asked.

"Mm-hm," Jimmy hummed.

"Maybe we should go," Uncle Gibbs said. "It's not quite dinner time yet and I'm sure that if Jimmy plays with Tony for much longer he'll be cranky the rest of the night."

"Nooo..." Tony whined. "I wanna stay longer."

"Yours sounds pretty tired himself, Jethro," Da laughed.

Uncle Gibbs chuckled. "Yeah. We can show ourselves out. You just give Jimmy what he needs right now."

Da nodded. "All right. See you soon, Jethro."

"Later, Duck."

Jimmy nuzzled into Da's chest and sighed as the man rubbed circles on his back. "You must be very tired if you're like this," Da noted. "You should sleep more."

"Mm," Jimmy hummed with a shrug.

Da chuckled. "It seems we might stay like this for a while."

"Mm-hm."

"I'm glad you can relax in my company," Da said softly.

Jimmy looked up at the man. "'Course I can. I love you, Da."

Da beamed and kissed Jimmy's forehead. "And I love you too, Jimmy."

Jimmy smiled and let himself fall asleep, safe in his Da's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for making you guys wait again! These fics have been second on my priority list lately, after school/college applications. Meaning little me is using most of my off time, leaving big me less time to write. Have I mentioned xe's 4? And a handful? On the upside, little me loves coloring, so if you guys are lucky, then I might be able to share some artwork big me drew and little me colored for the series, if I can sit still long enough to actually make something, and I could use the time little me doesn't color/demand I draw to write more again.  
> There's a Halloween fic coming up I've had prepared for a couple weeks, and another fic I just found again after it got buried in a landslide of ideas, so those should be coming up sooner rather than later!  
> (P.S. Little Logan says hi! xo)


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